1976 Minnesota Twins season

1976 Minnesota Twins
85–77, third in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961)
Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Gene Mauch
Local television	WTCN (Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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The 1976 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77, third in the American League West. Only 715,394 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was the third year in a row that the Twins attracted the fewest fans in the AL.

Offseason

• October 24, 1975: Sergio Ferrer was traded by the Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Larry Cox.
• December 23, 1975: Danny Walton was traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bob Randall.
• January 7, 1976: Pete Redfern was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft (Secondary Phase).
• February 11, 1976: Johnny Briggs was released by the Twins.

Regular season

In June and July, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock became the third and fourth Twins to hit for the cycle. Hisle cycled on June 4 in an 8–6 win over Baltimore, going double, triple, single, home run. He is the only Twin that took an extra inning (homering in the tenth) to accomplish the feat, as he'd grounded out in his first at-bat. Six weeks later Bostock became the second Twin to cycle during a season, a first for the club.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew and catcher Butch Wynegar.

On July 24, Lyman Bostock, batting fourth, went four-for-four (3B-HR-2B-1B) to become the fourth Twin to hit for the cycle. He had four RBI and scored four runs in the 17–2 win over Chicago.

Steve Luebber is the Minnesota pitcher to come closest to a no-hitter without achieving it. On August 7, he was one out away before losing his bid when Texas Ranger Roy Howell singled. Luebber then lost the shutout when Mike Hargrove singled Howell home. The Twins won the game, 3–1.

For the first time in four years, Carew did not win the AL batting title, finishing third with a .331 batting average. Carew did have 200 hits and 90 RBI. Larry Hisle hit 14 home runs and collected 96 RBI. Dan Ford added 20 HR and 86 RBI. The Twins set a season-record low with just 81 homers.

Reliever Bill Campbell led the Twins pitchers with 17 wins, all in relief. He also led the team in saves (20) and appearances (78). His earned run average of 3.01 was second only to reliever Tom Burgmeier's 2.50; Burgy added 8 relief wins and a save. The Twins needed the relief help because the starting pitching was terrible, with only Dave Goltz (14–14) managing double digit wins.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	90	72	0.556	—	49–32	41–40
Oakland Athletics	87	74	0.540	2½	51–30	36–44
Minnesota Twins	85	77	0.525	5	44–37	41–40
Texas Rangers	76	86	0.469	14	39–42	37–44
California Angels	76	86	0.469	14	38–43	38–43
Chicago White Sox	64	97	0.398	25½	35–45	29–52

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Notable transactions

• May 30, 1976: Jeff Holly was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
• June 1, 1976: Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson were traded by the Twins to the Texas Rangers for Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and $250,000. On December 10, Thompson died of complications related to his granulocytic leukemia in Rochester, Minnesota.

Roster

1976 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 20 Vic Albury 18 Eddie Bane 28 Bert Blyleven 19 Tom Burgmeier 24 Bill Campbell 21 Joe Decker 30 Dave Goltz 31 Jim Hughes 21 Tom Johnson 23 Steve Luebber 26 Mike Pazik 17 Pete Redfern 48 Bill Singer		Catchers 14 Glenn Borgmann  8 Phil Roof 16 Butch Wynegar Infielders 29 Rod Carew 26 Mike Cubbage 25 Luis Gómez 22 Craig Kusick  7 Dave McKay 32 Bob Randall  5 Roy Smalley  1 Jerry Terrell  5 Danny Thompson		Outfielders 10 Lyman Bostock  2 Steve Braun 11 Steve Brye 15 Dan Ford  9 Larry Hisle  6 Tony Oliva		Manager  4 Gene Mauch Coaches 41 Ed Lyons 42 Don McMahon 40 Joe Nossek  6 Tony Oliva 43 Jerry Zimmerman

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Butch Wynegar	149	534	139	.260	10	69
1B	Rod Carew	156	605	200	.331	9	90
2B	Bob Randall	153	475	127	.267	1	34
3B	Mike Cubbage	104	342	89	.260	3	49
SS	Roy Smalley	103	384	104	.271	2	36
LF	Larry Hisle	155	581	158	.272	14	96
CF	Lyman Bostock	128	474	153	.323	4	60
RF	Dan Ford	145	514	137	.267	20	86
DH	Craig Kusick	109	266	69	.259	11	36

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Steve Braun	122	417	120	.288	3	61
Steve Brye	87	258	68	.264	2	23
Jerry Terrell	89	171	42	.246	0	8
Dave McKay	45	138	28	.203	0	8
Danny Thompson	34	124	29	.234	0	6
Tony Oliva	67	123	26	.211	1	16
Glenn Borgmann	24	65	16	.246	1	6
Luis Gómez	38	57	11	.193	0	3
Phil Roof	18	46	10	.217	0	4

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dave Goltz	36	249.1	14	14	3.36	133
Jim Hughes	37	177	9	14	4.98	87
Bill Singer	26	172	9	9	3.77	63
Pete Redfern	23	118	8	8	3.51	74
Bert Blyleven	12	95.1	4	5	3.12	75
Eddie Bane	17	79.1	4	7	5.11	24
Joe Decker	13	58	2	7	5.28	35

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Steve Luebber	38	119.1	4	5	4.00	45

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bill Campbell	78	17	5	20	3.01	115
Tom Burgmeier	57	8	1	1	2.50	45
Vic Albury	23	3	1	0	3.58	23
Tom Johnson	18	3	1	0	2.61	37
Mike Pazik	5	0	0	0	7.00	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Twins	Pacific Coast League	Cal Ermer
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Dick Phillips
A	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Johnny Goryl
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Harry Warner
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

External links

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com